In silver halide color photographic materials, it is well known that color development induces reaction between an oxidized aromatic primary amine color developing agent with a coupler to produce an indophenol dye, an indoaniline dye, an indamine dye, an azomethine dye, a phenoxazine dye, a phenazine dye, or a like dye to thereby form a color image. In this photographic system, color reproduction is generally achieved by a subtractive color process using silver halide emulsions selectively sensitive to each of blue, green, and red light, and yellow-, magenta-, and cyan-dye-forming agents (couplers) that are complementary to the silver halide emulsions, respectively. For example, acylacetanilide and dibenzoylmethane couplers are used for formation of a yellow dye image; pyrazolone, pyrazolobenzimidazole, pyrazolopyrazole, pyrazolotriazole, cyanoacetophenone, and indazolone couplers are typically used for formation of a magenta dye image; and phenol and naphthol couplers are mostly used for formation of a cyan dye image.
Dyes produced by these couplers do not have ideal absorption spectra. In particular, magenta and cyan dyes have disadvantages for color reproduction of color photographic light-sensitive materials, such as a broad absorption spectrum or side abscrption in a short wavelength region.
Side absorption in a short wavelength region tends to cause reduction in saturation. The reduced saturation can be restored to some extent by mainfestation of interimage effects.
Details of interimage effects are described, e.g., in Hanson, et al., Journal of the Optical Society of America, Vol. 42, pp. 663-669, A. Thiels, Zeitschrift fur Wissenschaftliche Photographie, Photophysique und Photo-chemie, Vol. 47, pp. 106-118 and 246-255.
It has been proposed to obtain favorable interimage effects by introducing diffusible 4-thiazolin-2-thione into a light-exposed color reversal photographic element (U.S. Pat. No. 3,536,486) or an unexposed color reversal photographic element (U.S. Pat. No. 3,563,487).
Japanese Patent Publication No. 34169/73 discloses that remarkable interimage effects can be exerted in a color photographic light-sensitive material by reducing silver halides to silver in the presence of an N-substituted-4-thiazoline-2-thione compound.
Interimage effects obtained by providing a colloidal silver-containing layer between a cyan layer and a magenta layer in a color reversal photographic element are described in Research Disclosure, RD No. 13116 (March, 1975).
Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 4,082,553 discloses that good interimage effects can be obtained in a color reversal light-sensitive material having a layer structure that allows movement of iodide ions during development, one layer of which contains latent image-forming silver haloiodide grains and another layer of which contains latent image-forming silver halide grains and silver halide grains having their surfaces fogged so that they may be developed irrespective of imagewise exposure.
However, the above-described conventional techniques fail to produce fully satisfactory interimage effects, or the use of a colloidal silver-containing layer or the introduction of fogged silver halide grains brings about a reduction in color density in color reversal light-sensitive materials.
It is also known to produce interimage effects by using a coupler capable of releasing a development inhibitor (i.e., DIR coupler), e.g., a benzotriazole derivative, a mercapto compound, etc., upon reacting with an oxidation product of a color development agent, or using a hydroquinone compound, etc., capable of releasing a development inhibitor, e.g, an iodine ion, a mercapto compound, etc. However, use of these development inhibitor-releasing compounds is accompanied by serious desensitization or reduction of color density and has, therefore, been narrowly limited in its applications.